The Problem of the Too Many Cocktails
by Thistle of Liberty
Summary: - Ellery Queen - Ellery has a few to many and gets into trouble. What will the Inspector do? Will contain spanking of an adult. If you do not like this, don't read this story. If you do like this, or think you might, please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not, have never and will never own Ellery and the Inspector. I do, have always and will always wish I did.**

* * *

Ellery woke up feeling awful. His head was aching dully and he was nauseous. He had definitely had a few to many drinks last night. When he tried to get up he put the majority of his body weight on hid left wrist. That, he shouldn't have done. The wrist hurt like hell for a moment before it gave away and he hit the bed again with a dull thump. Perplexed, Ellery wrinkled his brow and looked at the wrist. It had a bluish shade and was now throbbing. How had that happened?

Then he remembered and suddenly wished he could stay in bed all day. The fight. He had had a fight last night. Trying not to put any more weight he slowly got out of bed, he had a novel to write and no matter how muck he wished he could he couldn't stay in bed all day. First of all he'd make some coffee and then he'd start writing. If the wrist didn't get any better he'd have to go to a hospital but he hoped to avoid that. Hopefully his father would already have gone to work by now and he wouldn't even have to worry about him. It could actually turn out to be a liveable day…

"Good morning, son" a voice. Ellery visibly stiffened and then slowly turned his head to the voice's owner. His hopes had been crushed very effectively with those words.

"Dad", he said and tried to smile, "shouldn't you be at work?"

"It's Saturday", the old man said and gave his son a curious look. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah", Ellery said a little nervously, "is there any coffee?"

Inspector Queen narrowed his eyes at his son.

"Why do you act like you've done something wrong?" he asked and gave his son a piercing look.

"What do you mean?" Ellery said with shrill voice.

"Come here and sit down, son" the Inspector ordered. Ellery looked around himself, as if to find a way to escape, and then reluctantly sat down.

"Now tell me", his father ordered.

"Tell you what?" Ellery asked without meeting his fathers eyes.

"What you've done."

Ellery cursed mentally. Was he really that transparent? Maybe it was just the curse of having a cop as a father.

"Nothing" he said, trying to sound innocent.

"Ellery…"

The younger man winced. How he hated that tone. He looked up to the ceiling and put a thin hand to his face, playing with the still from sleep ruffled hair. How could he answer that? If he told his father he was in loads of trouble and if he didn't tell, well, he was still in loads of trouble.

"I'll count to three", Inspector Queen stated and caused Ellery to squirm even more.

"One…"

Ellery hesitantly bit his lip and scratched his head. His dad was seriously counting. Counting. Like Ellery was a five year old who was sulking and wouldn't do what he was told.

"Two…"

The old man was serious! He was really counting. Ellery licked his lips and took a deep breath. He had to face it, he wouldn't get away.

"All right, all right. I'll tell you", he said.

"Good boy", the Inspector said and gave his son a smile. Ellery just grimaced, that was far from what his father would think when he'd heard what he had to say.

"I was in a fight last night", Ellery nervously and quickly mumbled and then swiftly looked away, trying to hide himself by itching his head.

"You were _what_?!" the Inspector roared.

Ellery cringed and made a suffering grimace. Did his father have to use that tone? He was twenty-six for God's sake! Which unfortunately hadn't changed the fact that he was scared of his dad's anger…

"Fighting…" he whispered, still not looking at his dad.

"Fighting?" Inspector Queen said, a little calmer. "You were fighting…"

"Yes…" Ellery whispered and curled up, making himself as small as possible.

"You injured?" the Inspector asked sharply, allowing paternal worry to over-ride his anger for a moment.

"Not really…"

"What d'you mean, not really?"

"Well… I'm kind of bruised and I think I might have sprained a wrist…"

"You _think_?" Inspector Queen yelled. Ellery flinched and gave the old man a shame-faced look. He was actually sorry; his body ached in places all over and the fight had been so pointless. Of course, it hadn't seemed like a bad idea then, probably due to the many cocktails he'd had.

"I really am sorry", he said sincerely.

"I bet", the Inspector said gruffly, "At least tell me there was a good reason and you didn't just feel like doing some fist fighting?"

"Eh…" Ellery hesitantly looked away, "there kind of was…"

"There kind of was?"

"Well, it seemed like a good reason then!"

"You weren't, by any chance, drunk?" Inspector Queen, equal portions of sarcasm and anger in the voice. Ellery ignored the question and continued to study the ceiling. He was so dead.

"Ellery!"

"Possibly… maybe… a little?" he nervously looked up at his father and grimaced.

"Why the fight?" the Inspector relentlessly carried on with the interrogation.

"He was asking for it!" Ellery exclaimed.

"Really?" the small, and right now very scary, Inspector drawled.

"It's true, dad! He was mouthing off to everybody and was just… completely abnoxious."

"Sp you decided to beat him up a little?"

Ellery squirmed under the stern gaze that came along with the question.

"No!" he said, a little whiny, "it wasn't like that, dad! I just told him to go to hell and he got mad and pushed me, so I pushed back and he took a swing at me and before I knew it I had punched him in the face!"

"And..?"

"Well, we started to fight… Until we were pulled apart by a couple of people."

Ellery refused to look at his father and he was staring hard at the floor. He knew that he'd done the wrong thing but he didn't want to admit it. Inspector Queen was staring hard at his son, trying to judge how he felt.

"Look at me", he said sternly. Ellery continued looking at the floor, not daring to look up for what he might see.

"Ellery, look at me."

The voice contained a clear order and very reluctantly Ellery raised his eyes to meet his fathers stern gaze.

"I'm very disappointed in your behaviour" the old man said and Ellery felt his cheeks burn. He hated that word; disappointed. He didn't want to disappoint his father, he wanted to make him proud.

"You realise what's going to happen?"

"Yeah…" Ellery mumbled. He thought so at least. Damn.

* * *

**I wasn't going to post this yet, it was only supposed to be a one-shot. But with my very convenient writer's block I can't seem to finish the next part so I decided to post this. The next part might take a while. So don't wait up! ;)**

**Now please review and make me a happy girl. **


	2. Chapter 2

**OK guys, this took a while. But I hope it's worth waiting for...**

* * *

"Lower your pants and come here"

"Dad…"

"Now, Ellery!"

Ellery sighed but obeyed. He wasn't about to disobey his father in a situation like this. A bit clumsily he undid his belt and pulled the pants down. He gulped and, at his father's gesture, lowered his body over his father's lap.

The Inspector started spanking immediately; hard. After just ten or so swats Ellery was starting to feel his eyes stinging. He'd never been good with pain.

"Now, why are you getting this spanking?" Inspector Queen calmly asked.

"I got into a fight..!" Ellery said, tying to keep the pain from his voice.

"And why did you get into that fight?"

Ellery was crying quietly now; the Inspector had more strength than his thin body let on.

"I w-was d-drunk!" Ellery said. The Inspector seemed satisfied with the answer and gave a grunt. He continued the spanking with as much force as before, though.

"You –SWAT- do –SWAT- not –SWAT- get –SWAT- into –SWAT- fights. Especially –SWAT- not –SWAT- when –SWAT- you're –SWAT- drunk", he calmly lectured, accompanied by Ellery's sobs, and then, to make sure the spanking was the memorable experience he wanted it to be, raised his right leg a little and began swatting just above Ellery's thighs. "Do –SWAT- you –SWAT- understand –SWAT- ?"

"Y-yes dad!" Ellery sobbed, "I… I underst-tand."

"Good boy", the Inspector praised. After only a few more swats he finished the spanking and pulled Ellery up in a tight embrace. The young man was crying hard, more so than the spanking really had warranted, but it was mostly tears of guilt. Inspector Queen gently soothed the distressed Ellery with soft words and a comforting hand on his back.

"Shush…" he said softly, "it's all right. You're forgiven, son. Everything's fine."

Ellery didn't answer, just pressed even closer to his father and buried his face in the man's shoulder.

"Ellery..?" the Inspector asked after a while of silent crying from Ellery. The young man still didn't answer.

"Son, I'm talking to you." It was said with more force this time and Ellery mumbled something in reply.

"It wasn't that bad, was it?" Inspector Queen said, now worried.

"No, dad…" Ellery whispered, still crying hard.

"Then what is it?"

Ellery shrugged in reply. He couldn't tell his father the truth and he had no chance of lying convincingly right now. He heard the Inspector sigh and felt the arms surrounding him move. Great. He had annoyed his dad, again. Through the tears dimming his eyes he could see Inspector Queen's concerned face and he found himself being pushed down into the couch.

"Wait here, boy", the old man ordered and, with a vague gesture towards the kitchen, "I'm getting you some hot milk."

Ellery nodded and pulled up his legs. He curled up in the corner of the couch, hiding his face in his legs. Why was it so damned hard? He didn't want to be a disappointment. A sob shook his thin body. Why didn't he manage to do anything right? Suddenly he was crying hard again, sobbing so much his whole body trembled. He hardly managed to breath between the sobs and the breaths he did take were ragged and uneven. He thought he was going to be sick. Had he been less focused on his own misery he might have noticed the Inspector's quiet entrance, but as it was the strong arms pulling him close came as a complete surprise.

Ellery tried to push away, frantically attempting to free himself from the arms enveloping him. But his father was stronger than him and he was held tightly, like when he was a child and had hurt himself. His father's quiet refusal to let him go soon made him stop fighting and he was now simply crying against his father's shoulder..

The Inspector put a comforting hand on the back of Ellery's shaking body.

"Calm down, little one", he said soothingly. Ellery almost smiled, it was a long time since he last heard that. But the words undoubtedly had the desired effect, for Ellery did calm down enough to breath somewhat steadily.

"It's all right", the familiar voice said, "everything'll be fine. Just calm down a little, son. Breath…"

With the help from Inspector Queen's comforting voice Ellery was soon breathing calmly, just sobbing slightly against his father's shoulder. He now had time to notice his position; he was still curled up in the corner, his father sitting beside him.

"Can you tell me what's wrong?" the Inspector gently inquired.

Ellery shook his head without looking up. He heard his father sigh and felt a distraught hand caressing his hair.

"Look, son. I can't, won't, make you tell me, but it'd be easier for both of us if you told me."

The words were said with a kind of cold practicality that made Ellery look up from the damp fabric of his father's jacket and try to judge the man's mood. The only thing he saw was concern and weariness. Guilt overrode him again. He leaned in close to his father and put his head on the man's shoulder.

"Disappointment", he whispered in his father's ear, like a child.

"Wha..?" the Inspector said, startled and confused. He then continued, as understanding dawned upon him. "You'll never be a disappointment, Ellery."

"You said", Ellery argued through small sobs. Inspector Queen pushed his son away a little bit and frowningly looked at his face.

"I never said that", he said gently, but firmly.

"Did", Ellery protested. The Inspector sighed and firmly grabbed the tear streaked face before him and forced Ellery to look at him.

"Ellery, I might have said your actions disappointed me. But you'll never disappoint me."

Ellery hesitantly chewed on his lip and looked up at his father, through ruffled strands of hair.

"Promise?" he asked, once more reminding the Inspector of the child he'd been.

"Promise", he confirmed with a smile. Ellery, likely in an attack of gratefulness, buried his face in his father's shoulder again. Inspector Queen patted his back a little tiredly and hummed some indefinable tune.

"Want me to get you that milk?" he said after a while of silence.

"No!" Ellery exclaimed, startling the poor Inspector. "I mean… can't you stay?"

"Of course, son."

They sat in silence for a while, Ellery still crying a little but more calmly than before.

"I'll want to check on that wrist", Inspector Queen said, whilst softly stoking his son's hair.

"Yeah, dad", Ellery said and pushed himself up in a more upright position, holding the wrist out for inspection. The Inspector carefully felt the swollen area. He frowned.

"Bend your fingers", he ordered. Ellery did so and then winced a little when his father pressed at an especially sore spot. He really had himself to blame, though.

"It's not broken, but I think it's a light spraining", the Inspector announced, "we'll wrap it up later."

Ellery nodded and put his head back on Inspector Queen's shoulder.

"Dad..?" he asked after just some seconds.

"Yes?" the Inspector patiently said.

"You're not mad?"

"No, son. I'm not mad."

"Good…" Ellery whispered and closed his eyes to be lulled to sleep by his father's soft humming and the gentle hand stroking his back.

The End

* * *

**Another story finsihed. I'm thinking of writing a longer Ellery-fic now... But I'm not sure. Please review now, and make me a happy girl.**


End file.
